May Township Wetland Inventory

May Township is a rural, developing township located in northern Washington County, Minnesota. The magnitude of this wetland inventory is one of the largest of its kind in the upper Midwest. The purpose of the inventory was to provide data regarding wetland location and to assign each wetland a quality ranking. Completion of the wetland inventory will allow the Township to balance development with stewardship of the higher quality wetland resources.

SER personnel evaluated over 800 wetlands for the Township. A quality ranking system (based on observed physical and biological indicators) that was developed by SER for a previous municipal-wide wetland inventory was used to assign wetland quality rankings for this project.

SER discovered that nearly half of the wetlands inventoried in May Township were not significantly degraded from their natural conditions. Information gathered by SER will assist May Township in making sound decisions regarding development and wetland resources.